[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 29 (Monday, July 23, 2007)]
[Pages 970-972]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the 
United Nations

July 17, 2007

    President Bush. Mr. Secretary-General, welcome. Thanks for coming. 
We've just had a wide-ranging and full discussion on a lot of issues. 
First, Mr. Secretary-General, I appreciate you, one, taking on this job; 
two, working extremely hard; and, three, doing a fine job. I admire the 
values you hold dear to your heart, and I appreciate the chance to share 
some thoughts with you.
    We discussed a lot of issues. We have discussed Darfur. We discussed 
proliferation. We discussed the potential trial for--on the--about 
Hariri. The Secretary-General

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and I talked about the speech I gave yesterday on the Middle East. We 
have talked about Afghanistan and Iraq.
    And one of the things I briefed the Secretary on was my views about 
extremism and these radicals that will do anything to disrupt the goals 
set by the United Nations and/or disrupt the advance of democracy in 
peaceful societies. Al Qaida is strong today, but they're not nearly as 
strong as they were prior to September the 11th, 2001. And the reason 
why is, is because we've been working with the world to keep the 
pressure on, to stay on the offense, to bring them to justice so they 
won't hurt us again, to defeat them where we find them.
    And now we find them in Iraq. These killers in Iraq, people who will 
kill innocent life to stop the advent of democracy, people who are 
trying to get on our TV screens on a daily basis to drive us out, have 
got ambitions and plans. These people have sworn allegiance to the very 
same man who ordered the attack on September the 11th, 2001, Usama bin 
Laden. And they want us to leave parts of the world, like Iraq, so they 
can establish a safe haven from which to spread their poisonous 
ideology. And we are steadfast in our determination to not only protect 
the American people but to protect these young democracies. And I 
appreciate your interest in the subject.
    Al Qaida would have been a heck of a lot stronger today had we not 
stayed on the offense. And it's in the interest of the United States to 
not only defeat them overseas so we don't have to face them here but 
also to spread an ideology that will defeat their ideology every time, 
and that's the ideology based upon liberty.
    So, Mr. Secretary-General, I'm proud to have you here, and thank you 
for your leadership.
    Secretary-General Ban. Thank you very much, Mr. President. This is 
my second time to have--for meeting with you in this Oval Office. I 
appreciate your strong support and active participation of the United 
States in the United Nations. And I'm very much grateful for all the 
strong support for peacekeeping operations.
    In addition to what President Bush has just mentioned on the issues 
we have covered, I'd like to mention just a few of importance, in my--
from my perspective. First of all, I welcome the interest which you have 
announced yesterday for the comprehensive Middle East peace process. As 
a member of the Quartet, I am prepared to work very closely to see 
expedited peace process in the Middle East.
    As for Iraqi situation, this is a problem of the whole world. And as 
far as the United Nations is concerned, we are prepared to contribute to 
Iraqi Government and people to help them overcome this difficulty, in 
close coordination with the MNF and including the United States. We are 
going to help their political facilitation as well as economic and 
social reconstruction. And we also are going to continue the 
international compact process for Iraq, as well as expanded--
[inaudible]--foreign ministers meeting. This will provide good 
opportunity for Iraqi people and international community to work 
together for peace and security in Iraq.
    In Darfur situations, we have made considerable progress. And we are 
going to step up the political process. We have made a positive 
development yesterday in Tripoli through the meeting chaired by United 
Nations and African Union. We are going to have negotiation, 
prenegotiation in Arusha, Tanzania, in early August. We are also going 
to facilitate humanitarian assistance. I'm going to step up efforts to 
deploy hybrid operations as soon as possible in Darfur to resolve this 
issue as soon as possible. In that regard, I appreciate U.S. Government 
strong support in this matter.
    On climate change, which is a very important issue for all 
humankind, I appreciate President Bush's initiative during Heiligendamm 
G-8 summit meeting. I extended an official invitation to President Bush 
today to attend, to participate in a high-level U.N. debate on climate 
change, which will be held on September 24th. Your participation will be 
very much appreciated, and I'm looking forward to welcoming you in New 
York.
    Lastly, on North Korean nuclear issue, I appreciate the U.S. 
Government initiative and flexibility in promoting development of these 
issues. I'm encouraged and I welcome the recent development of 
situation. I hope

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that the parties concerned, including DPRK, will take necessary measures 
to implement this joint statement to realize the denuclearization of the 
Korean Peninsula as soon as possible.
    Thank you very much for your hospitality.
    President Bush. Thank you, sir. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 2:16 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House.